[He takes a few more steps and slips again, and this time he doesn't quite get back up. His head feels like it's splitting open. He needs a moment to gather himself, to make sure he isn't about to black out again.

Eyes like the sun. Gleaming, judging from atop the steps. The guards haul him and his shackles closer. He recalls the yapping of a dog.

"I remember."

Remember how he watched. Remember how he did nothing. Remember how he smiled with a sword in one hand and opened the other. Three must pay the price. He already... paid the price.

Her voice cuts through the nightmare. He remembers to breathe.]

I—remember. [He doesn't want to remember.] I don't want to remember. [He doesn't want to remember!] Every time... every time, it's like this.

Just take my blood, beast. I know it's what you want.

[He tears the bandages from his left hand. Though she had healed it earlier, his palm bears noticeable scarring. This has been going on for a while.]

Lapis, [he says, not looking at her face.] You should not linger.